West African stock recipe

West African stock recipe, why? I decided
to do this page as every single soup, stew or sauces may require some of this.

For centuries women from most of Africa have
simmered meat and fish over open fire in clay pots while they go out to work on
farms. By the time they got back their simmering stock or broth is ready for
the next stage. The flavours from this is intense and the result? Amazing meals

With our fast pace world, people do not
have the luxury of time to simmer for hours so they use store bought stock
cubes to enhance the taste of their food. I do not have any objection to that.
However, I have come to understand that spending a few hours each week to
prepare my stock spares me the use of stock cubes and I can do my meals for 30minutes or less especially on weekdays.

This West African stock recipe use different kinds of
meat and fish. Everything used for the stock is not
discarded but used in the next recipe.

I have two ways of cooking this: in the slow
cooker and over a stove. I would show you both here. At first glance it seems like a ton of things to do. Do not be put off as it is only the prep work most of the time you would not be doing anything.

West African stock recipe

Servings:

Prep Time: 20min

Stove Cooking Time: 3hours

Slow cooker: 6hours

Ingredients

0.9g cow feet or oxtail about 8-10 pieces( use one or the other or both if you like, some also use kpomo which is cow skin)

0.6g Tripe

2-3 Pieces of smoked or roasted turkey

2 Medium size dry fish

2 Cups of stockfish pieces

2 Medium size onion(quartered)

1 Head of garlic

1-2 Teaspoons crushed peppercorns

1-2 Teaspoons dry paprika(reduce if you cannot stand the heat add if you want it hotter)

2 Teaspoons of thyme

2 Teaspoons salt

2.5litres of water

Method

Soak the dry fish in hot water in a bowl to loosen it a bit and make it easier to work with for about 20minutes, break in bits take out bones and gut of fish, rinse and drain then, set aside.

I also soak the stockfish pieces in hot water if using to soften it as well. Take out and rinse when it is ready to be cooked.

Clean the smoked turkey thoroughly and set aside. If using homemade roasted turkey, use the bony bits for extra flavour and no need to rinse.

Start cleaning the cow feet and tripe(shaki as it is called in Nigeria) Using a sharp knife scrape the back of the tripe until it is sought of creamy in colour and cut of the fatty bits. Then, use a knife or scissors to cut the tripe into bite size

Scrape the skin of the cow feet or kpomo if using, as it usually comes burnt from taken of the hairy part of the cow so you want to scrape off all that burnt bit. Or better still buy the already cleaned one and take out this first two processes from your to do list. I am for this last option.

For best results I place the cow feet and tripe in a greased oven tray and brown in a preheated oven at 450F 20minutes on each side or brown in a greased skillet over medium high for about 10minutes each side on a stove( This step is optional it can be skipped but browning would bring the best in your stock)

Take off the husk from the onion and garlic and rinse

Transfer the cow feet, tripe, onion and garlic into a stockpot along with water and placed on a stove on medium heat and cook for about 15-20minutes or until the water boils then reduce heat to low for the rest of the cooking

After 40minutes of cooking transfer the dry fish, stockfish and turkey, to the pot to cook with the cow feet and tripe

Cook about 2hours more or until cow feet is soft add more water if water is reducing so much. You should get about 1.8- 2litres of liquid in the end.

For the slow cooker option to my West African stock recipe, which is my preferred one, just throw everything into your slow cooker go out and your stock is ready. If your slow cooker is like mine it would keep warm for four hours after cooking giving a total of ten hours. Most people are not likely to be out of their home for ten hours. Or you could do this overnight while you are sleeping and wake up with a pleasant aroma.

Your stock can stay in the fridge for five days and freezer for 3-5 months.

Have you tried this West African stock recipe?

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